Update.

The Judge, of course, dismissed Chase's argument that they were not responsible for WaMu originated credit lines, as I'd expected all along.

However, Chase's legal team was partially successful in arguing that we hadn't clearly established protections were due to us under TILA (which is a consumer protection statute) since we hadn't proved the HELOC had been accessed to pay for personal and household related expenses. Frankly, all I have to say to that is DUH! WTF is a HELOC supposed to be for otherwise? Of course it was used for personal and household expenses, but I guess we now have to amended the complaint to make that crystal clear.

Update.

You understand that now I'm in litigation, I have to be more careful about what I say. But I needed to share this little gem with you. Chase has filed a motion to dismiss claiming (and I don't know if this is the actual language in the motion or the gist of it) that they "have no responsibility for WAMU credit lines"!

WTF!?!? Don't they now own WAMU. Wasn't it after Chase took over that my CL was reduced? BTW, that's a rhetorical question....of course it was. Does that mean that I no longer owe them the outstanding $16,300 balance on the CL? 'Cause I'd be happy to not pay it, if they aren't responsible for them.

Update

Not much to update. The lawyers did have a meeting with the lawyers from Chase, but due to confidentiality, about all I can tell you is that the meeting went well.

In the meantime, I now have my copy of the complaint we've made against the bank. It contains seven alleged counts - two counts of violating regulation Z of TILA, one of breach of contract, one of breach of implied covenants, one of unjust enrichment, and two of violating the CA's UCL. It makes for very impressive reading, and I would find them guilty on all counts (not that I'm biased or anything).

Update.

Guess I need to post an update here. We were on vacation the last few weeks (had a wonderful time, thanks for asking) so not much has happened. However, I did call the lawyer once I was finally over jet-lag and caught up with the work that had piled up whilst I was away, and apparently they have a meeting set with the Chase lawyers the first week in August. So I doubt there will be anything else to report until after that.

No, actually, turns out that they don't care.

Well it will probably come as no surprise to those of you who've had dealings with the Executive Resolution Department at Chase that nothing came of my interactions with them. So I am now, officially, in litigation with Chase as a named plaintiff in a class-action suit. I signed the attorney's retainer letter on Tuesday.

Remember I was worried about potential damage to my credit score? Hasn't happened, fortunately. I've been checking on-and-off since we got the letter reducing our HELOC and just this week my credit score has changed - up by 27 points, from 755 to 782. I will have to check the wife's too, when I get a chance, but last time I looked (when this first transpired) hers was 801.

So where it stands right now is that I'm still waiting for documentation, which will now go towards supporting the claims in my lawsuit. The written request I made two weeks ago looks like it was completely ignored and so I made another verbal request last Friday, asking for EVERYTHING they had on the HELOC. Then I went in online and made requests for everything they had on our first. I'll explain why the documentation for the first is so very relevant once I have it in hand.

They really do care?

Surprise of surprises...... I received a call this afternoon from the Chase Executive Resolution Group. The copy of my letter to Jamie Dimon had reached them, and they we're going to try and make everything right.

Well, that would obviously be awesome, and I'll definitely give them the opportunity to do so. However, I did also talk with the class-action attorney this afternoon and, clearly, he is keen to have me on board as a named plaintiff.

So, as I said in an earlier post, stay tuned. I should have more news from Chase by the middle of next week.

To capitulate, or not to capitulate....that is the question.

Well, it had been almost a full business week, so it was time to call and bug the bank again. Besides, I was talking to the class-action attorney at lunchtime, so I needed to have my ducks in a row with respect to the numbers I’d been given over the last few weeks.

Today’s call generated a new surprise - an actual figure we must hit with this appraisal the bank is looking for…… $413,000. When we bought in 2000, we paid $380,000, and the valuation for property tax purposes this year was $419,000. Even the bank’s automatic valuation was $466,000. Housing bubble or not, a $413,000 appraisal should be a cake-walk.

So the question is, should we capitulate and go with the appeal process? My wife wants us to, while I obviously don’t. I've previously outlined my reasons, so I won’t bore you with them again. Plus, this would be the bank’s choice of appraiser. Would we get a fair valuation? How much of the fee would be kicked back to the bank? Would we be paying more than the going rate for this appraisal, due to the lack of competition (not to mention any kickback to the bank). I’m of the opinion right now that WaMu/Chase should get nothing out of me but headaches, misery, and expense. Certainly they shouldn't profit from unethical business practices.

Again I pressed for more information on this claimed $502,000 origination valuation. Was there any date associated with it? Is there any supporting documentation noted? The answer to both questions was “no”, so there is still at a standoff on that until we see what the document request I made by mail last week produces. Unfortunately, while the letters I mailed last Friday did arrive on Monday, they don’t seem to have generated any action yet (at least that I can tell).